Tag: earth | ArchDaily

Transspecies Architecture: ArchDaily’s June Editorial Focus

Romullo Baratto — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Western philosophical tradition has long placed culture in opposition to nature. This dual thinking has shaped the canon of the sciences and humanities, and architecture was not left aside. Under that logic, everything that is not human exists to be exploited by them and is named "natural resource". This extractivist mindset has shaped the development of many parts of the world in the last centuries, leaving deep—sometimes irreparable—marks on the planet. Nevertheless, other ways of living have always existed. From West-African religious practices based on animism to the herbal sciences of the masters of the Sacred Jurema in Brazil; from indigenous communities in India whose life rhythm mirrors the monsoons, to the Arctic's Inuits who can see dozens of shades of white: humans and nature bear no distinction, what exists is life.

“Earth Is Not Nostalgia”: Hand Over on Design-Build and Local Materials

Nour Fakharany — Fri, 01 May 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Each year, the ArchDaily Next Practices Awards highlights emerging studios that are expanding the scope of architecture through new methods, materials, and ways of working. Selected from a global pool, these practices reflect a shift away from singular definitions of the discipline, engaging instead with broader questions of construction, environment, and social impact. Rather than operating within fixed categories, many of these studios position themselves across fields, combining design, research, and production to respond to contemporary conditions.

Memory of the Earth: 4 Examples that Reinvent Former Ceramic Factories

Camilla Ghisleni — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 04:00:00 +0000

There is an ancestral gesture in shaping earth. Long before architecture emerged as a discipline, clay was already being molded by hand and transformed by fire, turning raw material into domestic utensils and cultural objects. In the history of this craft, ceramic factories marked the transition from manual knowledge to mass production, expanding in scale without completely breaking from their material origins. Scattered across different territories, these structures record the relationship between technique, landscape, and time. Over the decades, however, many of them eventually lost their original function, replaced by more technological processes or consumed by the surrounding urban development, coming to occupy an intermediate state between permanence and obsolescence.

On International Mother Earth Day: Urban Rewilding, Aquatic Ecosystems, and Ancestral Practices for Biodiversity

Antonia Piñeiro — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 05:30:00 +0000

The United Nations' International Mother Earth Day, observed annually on April 22, aims to "promote harmony with nature and the Earth." In light of the urgency posed by climate change, it seeks to raise awareness of the challenges of preserving all forms of life supported by the planet. It is a call to the global community to safeguard biodiversity while striving to balance economic, social, and ecological systems. Crimes against biodiversity include large-scale practices such as deforestation, land-use change, intensified agriculture, livestock production, and illegal wildlife trade, all considered by the UN to be accelerating factors in the destruction of the planet.

Elevating Earth: Reviving and Advancing an Indigenous Building Material

Mohieldin Gamal — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Twenty meters tall and four thousand years old, the Western Deffufa towers over the adjacent date orchards and ancient city remains in the desert. It is a former religious and administrative building near the modern-day Sudanese town of Kerma. Its significance is not only in its age and size, but also in that it is one of the oldest mud brick buildings in the world. And as the nearby mud brick houses also attest, earth is a material of continuous use from ancient times to the present. Yet, conversations around contemporary building systems have largely ignored this essential material. Some architects on the continent of Africa, however, are changing that.

“Material Is Where the Story Begins”: Studio NEiDA on Building Through Craft and Context

Jonathan Yeung — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Studio NEiDA operates at the intersection of architectural practice, research, and curatorial work, with a consistent focus on how buildings emerge from the material and cultural conditions of a place. Rather than treating materiality as a finishing language, the studio frames it as the beginning of an architectural narrative—starting from what is locally available, they look at what craft knowledge exists on the ground, and how those resources and skills situate a project within an architectural lineage. This approach foregrounds limitations and possibilities as productive forces, and positions design as an iterative process of aligning spatial intent with the realities of construction culture and vernacular intelligence.

The Earthen Towers of Shibam: A Vertical City in the Desert of Yemen

Camilla Ghisleni — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Symbols of technological development and urban density, tall buildings as we know them today emerged in the late 19th century, primarily in the United States, in response to rapid growth in urban commerce and the need to expand cities without consuming more land. The term skyscraper, for instance, was coined in the 1880s and originally referred to buildings of about 10 to 20 stories—an impressive height at the time.

Building with Earth: Traditional Knowledge in Contemporary Architecture

Daniela Andino — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 07:30:00 +0000

In recent years, earthen construction has gained renewed attention in architecture. Materials such as adobe, rammed earth, and compressed earth blocks, once mainly associated with vernacular traditions, are increasingly being explored by contemporary architects. Rather than representing a simple return to the past, this renewed interest reflects a broader reconsideration of how architecture engages with materials, local resources, and environmental conditions.

Intestines of a Building: Aziza Chaouni on Architecture’s Systems and Resources

Romullo Baratto — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 08:30:00 +0000

In an age so obsessed with skincare and appearances, few architects are truly interested in the intestines of our buildings. With a practice rooted in contextual awareness and technical pragmatism, sensitive to the needs of the people it serves and to resource limitations, Moroccan architect Aziza Chaouni focuses on the hidden systems that allow architecture to be. Over the past two decades, she has been working on projects across different geographies, particularly in the Saharan region, actively engaging with its communities and heritage.

Sordo Madaleno and építész stúdió Selected to Design New Natural History Collection Center in Debrecen, Hungary

Antonia Piñeiro — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 06:30:00 +0000

Sordo Madaleno, in collaboration with építész stúdió and Buro Happold, has been selected to design the 43,000-square-meter New Debrecen Collection Center for the Hungarian Museum of Natural History. Debrecen, Hungary's second-largest city, is currently the focus of significant urban and university-related development, including plans to relocate the Hungarian Museum of Natural History from Budapest to the edge of Debrecen's Great Forest. The proposed Collection Center is conceived as a facility dedicated to the controlled storage and study of more than 11 million objects, drawing conceptual inspiration from traditional Hungarian clay vessels, structures historically used to protect and preserve. The project would mark the first European cultural commission for the Mexican architecture practice, which operates studios in London and Mexico City.

Indigenous Materials Towards an African Modernity: An Interview with Worofila

Romullo Baratto — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Founded by Senegalese architect Nzinga Mboup and French architect Nicolas Rondet, Worofila is a studio dedicated to bioclimatic and ecological architecture. Based in Dakar, Senegal, the firm explores the potential of vernacular materials like earth bricks and typha, applying modern techniques to create effective construction solutions. Their work addresses key issues of the environment, sustainability, and urbanization, merging traditional materials with innovative practices.

Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2025 Examines the Technosphere and Human Impact on Earth

Romullo Baratto — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Thirty trillion tons. This is the estimated mass of all human-made matter on Earth, and the starting point for the 7th edition of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale. Curated by Ann-Sofi Rönnskog and John Palmesino, founders of Territorial Agency, the event asks a deceptively simple question: How heavy is a city? To answer it requires more than data. It demands a shift in perception: from the scale of the city to the planetary technosphere.

The Philippine Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale Reimagines the Relationship Between Architecture and Soil

Antonia Piñeiro — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 05:30:00 +0000

The Philippines' Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia presents Soil-beings (Lamánlupa), an exhibition curated by artistic director Renan Laru-an. Through interdisciplinary collaborations, the Pavilion brings together architects, technical experts, indigenous leaders, artists, policymakers, and local communities to explore the cultural, ecological, and technological dimensions of soil. Its objective is to challenge conventional architectural paradigms by shifting the focus from structure to soil, not as a passive material, but as a living force with agency, history, and power.

Moroccan Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale Showcases Earth as a Sustainable Building Material

Antonia Piñeiro — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 05:30:00 +0000

The Kingdom of Morocco's exhibition at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia highlights Moroccan earth architecture and traditional construction techniques. The exhibition, titled Materiae Palimpsest, was curated by architects Khalil Morad El Ghilali and El Mehdi Belyasmine. In an exploration that blends ancient techniques with digital technologies, the exhibit features textile works by architect and artist Soumyia Jalal, along with holograms of artisans and tactile installations. The narrative presents earth as a renewable resource and sustainable material, and earth construction as a key to both preserving architectural heritage and addressing contemporary ecological and social challenges. Materiae Palimpsest offers an invitation to rethink architecture's current relationship with building materials, opening the way to locally rooted construction methods.

From Martian Hydrospheres to Forest-Like Cities: 6 Radical Urban Visions Unveiled at the Venice 2025 Architecture Biennale

Nour Fakharany — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Cities today are being reimagined as living, evolving organisms, combining digital intelligence, ecological systems, and new materials to shape radical futures. At Carlo Ratti's "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective." biennial, over 750 participants challenge established boundaries between architecture, landscape, and technology. Several conceptual projects showcased in the main exhibition challenge conventional boundaries between architecture, landscape, and technology. From bio-adaptive urban systems and Martian water-based settlements to immersive symphonies of satellite data, these works collectively envision new models for cohabitation, resilience, and planetary awareness.

Grounded Interiors: Exploring Earth-Based Flooring Through 10 Contemporary Interiors

Valentina Díaz — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 06:30:00 +0000

Earth-based flooring materials comprise natural elements such as clay, sand, silt, lime, and organic fibres. They offer both structural performance and sensory engagement when used in both outdoor and interior spaces. Due to their thermal properties, durability, and sustainable qualities, these materials have evolved from vernacular construction techniques into high-value architectural elements that are always being reinvented and optimized. There are several types of earthen floorings, each offering unique benefits, and they are increasingly used in interior settings.

Taming Nature: How Architecture is Redefining Its Relationship with the Environment

Jonathan Yeung — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Integrating natural elements into architectural design has long been a fundamental pursuit in creating comfortable, sustainable environments that enhance both individual well-being and the relationship between buildings and their surrounding context. In areas with vast landscapes, incorporating natural elements is essential for seamlessly connecting architecture with its site. Conversely, in dense urban environments dominated by built structures, introducing greenery becomes also increasingly vital, reintroducing nature into the so-called "concrete jungle."

Valerio Olgiati Unveils Rruga Adem Jashari, a New Mixed-Use Development in Tirana, Albania

Nour Fakharany — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 05:30:00 +0000

Swiss architect Valerio Olgiati has unveiled plans for Rruga Adem Jashari, a mixed-use development in Tirana, Albania, that seeks to blend urban living with the surrounding natural landscape. Positioned at the boundary between the city grid and an adjacent park, the project features three distinctive red concrete towers and a central white ziggurat. Combining residential, hospitality, and retail spaces, the development aims to create a seamless connection between the built environment and nature.